hey everyone. i have a horse called pokey he is an arab cross welsh mountain pony. i am 13 years old and have had him for a year now. He has thrown me off 5 times now. Twice when i was jumping him and three times he pigrooted me off..
He normally pigroots me off when i havent ridden him in a while. He usually does it when i ask him to canter but now he tries to do it when i ask him to trot. Im afraid that he is going to tip me off because i got hurt the last time he tipped me off.
Pls help because i dont know what to do.

Thanks,, Billie

Arksly

06-14-2010 02:06 AM

I had a welsh Arab cross too! Luckily I've only fallen off twice. I would try to help you but I have no idea what pigrooting is hehe.Posted via Mobile Device

justsambam08

06-14-2010 11:48 AM

He can't pig root if you don't let him get his head down. Everytime he tries to get his head and put his nose to the ground, yank him back up and get him moving with a tap on the shoulder or butt.

kim_angel

06-14-2010 07:03 PM

It also might help to learn the one rein stop. As soon as he goes to pigroot, bring his head around.

This sounds like a lack of respect and control issue. You are not going to see him get better until you work out the underlying issue.

billie

06-15-2010 04:32 AM

thanks

thanks for the help, i try and stop him and hes worked that out but he also tries to get me off when i least expect it.
Yesterday i was lunging him because i couldnt ride and he reared and bucked and all that when i asked him to canter, so i didnt feed him and today he was fantastic doing what i askeed straight away and without any trouble. He must have really wanted that food! He learns things pretty quick!

ThisSideUp

06-15-2010 04:34 AM

Is he pigrooting for fun, or is he purposely trying to get you off? Either way, i think you should probably get some help with him. Also, like justsambam08 said, keep his head UP, and keep him moving forward.

justsambam08

06-15-2010 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billie
(Post 660677)

thanks for the help, i try and stop him and hes worked that out but he also tries to get me off when i least expect it.
Yesterday i was lunging him because i couldnt ride and he reared and bucked and all that when i asked him to canter, so i didnt feed him and today he was fantastic doing what i askeed straight away and without any trouble. He must have really wanted that food! He learns things pretty quick!

Not feeding your horse is neglect, fyi. Horses don't learn through negative reinforcement (taking something positive away) they learn by repetition and praise. I think you really need to get some professional help with this horse. Bucking and rearing while on the lunge is a serious sign of disrespect and could get you killed if you don't know how to deal with it properly. He was probably good because he didn't have the energy to fight you for that day.

If you think he's misbehaving because of what your feeding him, I would post in the Health section of this forum for a review of what your currently feeding him and ask for suggestions.

wild_spot

06-15-2010 07:44 AM

That depends on the horses situation - if it on 24/7 turnout which I get the feeling this one is (could be wrong) then witholding hard feed isn't an issue and may be helpful depending on what the feed is!Posted via Mobile Device

AztecBaby

06-15-2010 08:13 AM

She lives in Australia, pretty much everyone I know over here has their horse on 24/7 grass turnout so it is deffinatly NOT neglect to withhold their grain.

If he were mine I would just ride him through it and keep doing whatever you were/are doing.

justsambam08

06-15-2010 01:47 PM

LOL thats why I did add the disclaimer and explained why withholding feed isn't neccessarily effective (for the reasons the OP assumed, anyway), I didn't just jump on the 'abuse' bandwagon, just in case.